NASCAR Sponsor Gets Sideways; Celebrity CEO Fails to Heed Own Advice

In an interview last week, the Camping World CEO and star of “The Profit” was asked to comment on business leaders resigning from President Trump’s economic councils in the wake of violence in Charlottesville, VA. He answered:

There’s no doubt that there is probably not many consumers in this country today that are in favor of what has been said in the last couple days — and if they are, frankly, don’t shop at my business.

Ironically, the full interview from CNBC’s website includes Lemonis offering advice to other CEOS that he promptly fails to heed. Just seconds before making the controversial statement, he says:

I think the challenge that we have right now, particularly as CEOs, is our job is to be stewards of our business, and we are entitled to a personal opinion and we are entitled to voice that, but we need to be careful and I encourage a lot of these CEOs to be careful in really voicing an opinion that represents their business or their shareholders.

And he’s right; CEOs should indeed “be careful” what they say on political matters. Failing to “be careful” is also the reason Lemonis may need a lot of help removing his foot from his own mouth if he ever remembers this tweet from 2016:

There is no place for politics/any political endorsements in any business. Your customers and employees should have their own mind. #period